Moroccan recipe for 6 people, takes only 50 mins; recipe has chicken, olive oil, coriander, sumac, cumin seed, fennel seed, chilli flakes, garlic clove, lemon, pomegranate molasses, natural yogurt, apricot, preserved lemon, clear honey, orange blossom water and white wine vinegar.
Moroccan roast chicken with apricots
Course: Moroccan
Servings
6
servings
Prep time
20 mins
Ingredients
- Coriander: small bunch coriander
- Garlic Clove: 2 garlic cloves
- Olive Oil: 6 tbsp olive oil
- Natural Yogurt: 250g natural yogurt, mixed with 1-2 pinches saffron, to serve
- Lemon: zest and juice 2 lemons
- Chilli Flakes: 2 tsp chilli flakes
- Chicken: 2 small chicken
- White Wine Vinegar: 4 tbsp white wine vinegar
- Apricot: 12 apricots, halved and stoned
- Cumin Seed: 1 tbsp cumin seed
- Fennel Seed: 1 tbsp fennel seed
- Clear Honey: 3 tbsp clear honey
- Pomegranate Molasses: 4 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- Preserved Lemon: 2 preserved lemons, rinsed, seeds removed, finely chopped
- Sumac: 2 tbsp sumac (see tip, below)
- Orange Blossom Water: 1 tbsp orange blossom water
Directions
- Spatchcock the chickens - see tip, below, or ask your butcher to do it for you. Put the olive oil, coriander, sumac, cumin, fennel, chilli, garlic, lemon zest and juice, pomegranate molasses and some ground black pepper into a food processor or blender, and whizz to a paste. Divide between 2 large food bags, add a chicken to each, then squeeze out the air and seal before giving everything a good squelch to coat thoroughly. Marinate for 24-48 hrs in the fridge, turning and squishing every so often.
- Fire up a barbecue and let the flames die down, or heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Lift the chicken out of the bags and season well with salt. Barbecue or roast the chicken for 25-30 mins on each side until crisp and cooked through. Set aside on a platter, loosely cover with foil, to rest while you do the apricots. If you roasted rather than barbecued, keep the tin juices warm for serving.
- Put the apricots in a small, snug roasting tin. Whisk the preserved lemon, honey, orange blossom and vinegar with some seasoning. Pour over the apricots and roast, or sit on the barbecue, for 20 mins until soft.
- Serve the chicken with any cooking juices, the apricots and saffron yogurt.
